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Dan’s Guide to Being a Lazy Gamer: Part 1

Living in an age of information and constant stimulation, you need a break every once in a while to just relax and unwind. If you’re like me and your relaxation drug-of-choice is video games, then you’ll understand my constant dissatisfaction at myself, playing games to unwind only to find myself simply unable to focus due to tiredness.

There are many games that are great for relaxing, but in most cases, those games are generally unsatisfying and leave you craving a real gaming experience. More often than not, this is unavoidable.

Recently I have found this general tired-apathy happening with my most beloved games, such as StarCraft 2, and have had to seek out alternate relaxation methods to save myself from imploding from frustration. Since I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem, I thought I’d share a few games that are very relaxation-friendly in…

Dan Guide to Being a Lazy Gamer: Part 1

(if I’m not too lazy to write another)

The first game I’d like to introduce is Crystal Saga by R2 Games, a completely free to play browser MMO with one feature sure to tug at your unwashed hoodie and get you a little bit excited and proud to be a lazy gamer.

Crystal Saga includes an ‘AFK Mode’, which when enabled, instructs your avatar to run around killing things without any bothersome clicking. What about that loot, you ask? I wouldn’t worry; there an option to loot everything on the ground as well as options to loot only certain items.

You can also set the option to have your avatar use items of your choosing when either they or their pet mana or HP are low, so you really don’t have to worry about dying if you’re well prepared. It hard not to be prepared with all the auto-looting you’ll be doing. But surely you’ll need to go repair your armour from time-to-time, right? That requires manual input, surely! Well, no, it doesn’t. There an auto-repair option too.

All the AFK Mode is missing is an ‘Order Domino’s’ button.

Crystal Saga really has thought of everything for us lazy gamers, and personally, I rejoice at this new system. It only a matter of time before more games include this option and allow us as much procrastination time as possible in-between games.

Oh! I should probably check on my faithful Crystal Saga Knight ‘LayZee’, who has been earning my plenty of XP and loot as I’m writing this. Go, LayZee, go!

Now, let me share with you, my lazy brethren, of possibly the best lazy gaming platform available: Facebook! Facebook gaming has grown exponentially in the last year, with many large developers branching out and hosting games on the social media platform, many with great success.

For instance, the new Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter game (for which you can find my Beta Review of HERE), the D&D franchise latest and greatest venture, is definitely something that you can play without much stress or even effort.

If you’re halfway through a fight and really just want to take a break for a moment, maybe go and get yourself a drink or something to eat, you can. It a nice contrast to something like a World of Warcraft raid scenario, where leaving the keyboard for even a moment to stop your bladder exploding or yourself dying of dehydration means constant berating from your team, potentially wiping and just an all-around bad experience. Instead, you’re obligation-free and can go about your lazy ways.

Cultist Mercenaries really just want to chill out

Another tremendous thing for us lazy people, when it comes to Facebook games, is the many time-mechanic style of games. There are plenty (and I mean plenty) of games on Facebook which incorporate time into their gameplay. This means that a lot of the time you’re simply required to perform an action, and then sit back and wait a predetermined amount of time before you can follow up that action and yield results. For instance, in ‘Pot Farm’, you plant your crops, wait a set amount of hours or days, depending on the crop type, and when that waiting period is over, you receive an influx of gold, experience and Pot Bucks.

Like Farmville, only waaaayyy coooollerr, mannn!

It frustrating for some, sure, but it a blessing for a lot of people, especially if you’re the type of person to spread yourself out between a few games at a time. This love-it-or-hate-it game mechanic that was popularised in the very early stages of Facebook MMOs, and has stood the test of time, being incorporated into new, successful games to this day.

So, my fellow lazy gamers, don’t unnecessarily stress yourself out when you’re exhausted or have only a few spare minutes to get your gaming time in. Skip StarCraft 2 for a night until you’re well-rested and energised. Say no to the ever-demanding raid for once.

Sit back, relax and enjoy yourself with the least possible effort. There are plenty of ways to go about it, and it’ll be my duty to you to let you know about them as I come across them… right after I harvest these Pot Farm crops.